JEL FAMILY

Faith in our family begins with trusting our Heavenly Father and His promises. We press forward despite challenges, never giving up on ourselves or our children. We teach our family to have faith in Christ by living what we know to be true. Our children learn their most powerful lessons from our faithfulness.

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Why yes, we, Jonathon, Emma, Gypsy (the dog), and I have decided that we are no longer bound to Indiana. We are pulling up our roots and moving to UTAH! We officially announced this to family At Christmas. (At least I think it was around Christmas) Later we shared the news to close friends. When I finally posted it to facebook I think my heart sped up. It always feels more final when you have posted it to facebook. (Like everything on there is SO true.) Ha-ha! But there it was on my profile and news feed and I couldn't help get a bit more excited for our upcoming adventure.

There are so many factors that have played into it being the right thing at the right time. First of all is prayer. I was starting to feel unsettled, restless, and a bit underwhelmed with my daily grind. I had spent a lot of time on my knees praying to find peace with where my life was at. That this was all there was, here I am and here I'll stay. It wasn't working.

My apartment lease was going to be up at the end of June 2015 and I started thinking that this was a great time to make a change and move somewhere less expensive. I thought this was sure to cure my unsettled feelings.

It didn't. I still felt like there was something more I needed to do. My daughter Emma and I were talking about the future one evening. We both knew that my son Jonathon was going to leave in a little over a year and go to Utah. It's just what those young Mormon kids do after High School and/or serving a mission. He was both of those things. We realized that with his future taking him so far away from out little Evansville, Indiana town, we would likely not see him much, or his future family if ever. This caused my daughter and I to tear up as we realized what the future had in store.

Left to my own thoughts I also contemplated my daughter's future. Truthfully, there is nothing here for her socially. Yes they have a little Family Home Evening/Young Single Adult group but it really isn't enough. She needs to go west like most of the other YSA kids. She needs to experience what the world has out there for her. She needs more than our life here can provide her.

Problem. Emma has never been one for change. As a matter of fact, she avoids it at all costs and I knew getting her to do something like going away to school, (halfway across the country) was NOT going to happen. At least not on her own.

Back to my knees I went. I had an inkling of what the answer was before I prayed about it. The relief I felt when I knew what I needed to do was overwhelming... until I realized ALL that I needed to do to make it happen. I needed to move everyone to Utah. Wow!

I started looking at jobs and apartments in different cities in Utah. Provo was out of the question because it was so expensive. (I had to think ahead and plan for a time I might not have kids living with me too) So I looked at South Jordan (where I used to live), SLC, West Valley and Brigham City. I started to lean more toward Brigham City. There was a variety of housing in each of these places with potential. But nothing felt right.

Jonathon came home and I decided to talk with him about it. At this time I had not mentioned anything serious to Emma. She was still in the "Moving would not be fun and Jonathon is going to move away from us" stage. It was not the time to spring this on my "Just Say NO to CHANGE" daughter. Not yet anyway. Jonathon seemed to light up and get excited all at once and said, "How about Ogden? I LOVED being there on my mission!"

As I looked into the things available in Ogden I got more and more excited. So after doing some research, I again went to my knees. I felt Peace. I felt Joy!

When I finally sat down with both kids and said, "This is the Place..." (Pun intended for my Mormon friends) The reactions were mixed. Jonathon was all in and on board! Done deal! Emma however was not. She was quiet, sulky, and I believe at the beginning of a LONG panic mode. She told me she didn't want to move, she was happy here and didn't want to leave her friends but she understood that it was "probably" the right decision.

Later that night she woke me up shaking and crying begging me to tell her we wouldn't go. I did not give into her request. I knew that she was overwhelmed and that she just needed time. I told her that I KNOW this is the right thing to do for all of us and that if she prayed about it, and gave it some time she would too.

Later I found out that she had secretly decided to stay behind when we left. I can laugh about it now because following her own confession she revealed that she did know it was right, she was only a little scared now.

There is still more to do than I care to admit, but that was pretty much how it all started.

About Me

I am Leian. I have 2 amazing kids Jonathon 25, and Emma 23. We love many things but mostly we love each other. We moved from Evansville, IN to Ogden, UT to find fulfillment and new experiences. We are adventurous and happy!